Early Medieval Art 2012

Art 108: Ancient to Medieval Westchester Community College Fall 2012

Early Medieval Art in Europe

Early Medieval Europe Western Europe was overrun by hordes of migrating “barbarian” tribes

Early Medieval Europe Middle Ages/Medieval period: • Fall of Roman Empire (5th century) • Renaissance (15th century)

Early Medieval Europe

This period of roughly 1,000 years is further divided into three phases

1.  Early Medieval (ending in the 10-11th century)

2.  Romanesque (11th-12th century)

3.  Gothic (12th-15th century)

Early Medieval Europe Incessant warfare Barbarian warlords battle for power

Helmet from the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial British Museum

Early Medieval Europe Medieval castle: • Fortresses attest to incessant warfare

Caernarfon Castle, 13th century, Wales Image source: http://www.snowdoniaguide.com/caernarfon_castle.htm

Dark Ages Cultural advances of Rome were lost  Literacy and learning  Architecture and monumental arts  Government and trade economy

Barbarian warlords settled down and formed kingdoms

The Barbarians The migrating barbarian tribes brought with them pagan religious beliefs and native artistic traditions

They were all eventually Christianized

Migration Arts The art of these migrating tribes is referred to as “migration arts”

It consists of small portable objects of adornment

Brooch, first half of 5th century, Eastern Germanic Silver with gold sheet overlay, garnets Metropolitan Museum

Migration Arts Common objects include status symbols such as decorative belt buckles and fibulae (brooches) worn by chieftains as emblems of power

Fibula, from a woman’s tomb. Merovingian, mid-6th cen. Silver, gold, garnet, glass, cloisonné, mid 6th century. Museé d’Archéolgie, Saint-Germiane-en-Laye

Migration Arts

Pair of eagle fibulae, Visigothic, early 6thc., gold over bronze with gemstones, glass and meerschaum Walters Art Gallery

Migration Arts In 1939 the burial of an Anglo Saxon warrior king was found at Sutton Hoo, in Suffolk, England

Excavation site, Sutton Hoo ship burial Image source: http://www.suttonhoo.org/gallery_detail.asp?fld_gallery_ID=3&offset=24

Migration Arts The warrior was buried in a ship with great riches

Illustration of the warrior buried in the Sutton Hoo ship burial British Museum

Migration Arts It included weapons and armor

Helmet from the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial Anglo Saxon, early 7thc British Museum

Replica of helmet from Sutton Hoo ship burial British Museum

Migration Arts And objects of adornment, such as this belt buckle decorated with interlaced snakes

Belt buckle, from the Sutton Hoo ship burial Anglo Saxon, early 7thc British Museum



Migration Arts This purse lid exemplifies many of the characteristic features of the migration arts:

Abstract interlace patterns Stylized animals Cloisonné technique

Purse cover, from the Sutton Hoo ship burial Anglo Saxon, 7th century British Museum

Purse cover, from the Sutton Hoo ship burial Anglo Saxon, 7th century British Museum

Migration Arts The technique used to make the purse is called cloissonné

Colored glass is used to fill recesses formed by intricate metal edges

Buckle with cloisonné decoration, from the Sutton Hoo ship burial British Museum

Shoulder clasp from the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial British Museum

Shoulder clasp from the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial British Museum

Main characteristics of Migration Arts:

Advanced metalworking techniques Zoomorphic imagery (animals) Interlace patterns (knots)

Migration Arts

Viking ship prow Viking ship Museum, Norway

Migration Arts When the barbarian tribes converted to Christianity, their vernacular style was absorbed into the art of Medieval Christianity

By the 11th century, Scandinavia had become mostly Christian, but Viking artistic traditions persisted, as seen in the intertwinging animal-and-plant decoration of the portal of this Norwegian church.

Hiberno Saxon Art In 432 Saint Patrick brought Christianity to the Celts in Ireland

In 563 St. Columba founded many monasteries that became centers of learning

Image source: http://macdonnellofleinster.org/page_7c__saint_patrick.htm

Monasticism Monasteries were self-sufficient communities of Monks (and nuns) who devoted themselves to a life of prayer, study, and work

Bible Production Irish monasteries became centers for the production of liturgical books

Bible Production Books were made in workshops called scriptoria

Texts and pictures were copied by hand

Medieval Scriptorium Image source: http://guindo.pntic.mec.es/~jmag0042/palefont.html

Hiberno-Saxon Manuscript Illumination The illustrated pages of these bibles represents a fusion of Christian imagery and the animal interlace patterns of the European migration arts

Lindisfarne Gospels, c. 698-721 Tempera on vellum Image source: http://www.dclab.com/lindisfarne_gospels.asp

Hiberno-Saxon Manuscript Illumination The monastery of Lindisfarne was established in 635 CE

It is one of the oldest Celtic Christian establishments in England

Monastery of Lindisfarne, Northumberland, England. Karmin Photography. Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/karen_cb/6258184421/

Monastery of Lindisfarne, Northumberland, England. Karmin Photography. Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/karen_cb/6258184421/

Hiberno-Saxon Manuscript Illumination The Lindisfarne Gospels contains the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

Lindisfarne Gospels, cover Image source: http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/lindisfarne/accessible/introduction.html

Author Portraits Author portraits introduced the Gospels with a portrait of the author

Lindisfarne Gospels,St. Matthew, f. 25v, c. 698-721 Tempera on vellum British Library

Author Portraits This one was based on a Roman model, but the forms have been flattened and simplified

Lindisfarne Gospels,St. Matthew, f. 25v, c. 698-721 Tempera on vellum British Library

Roman fresco of the Greek dramatist Menander from Pompeii.

Author Page This page introduces the Gospel of Matthew

He can be identified because of the lion symbol

Page introducing the Gospel of Mark Lindisfarne Gospels, c. 698-721 British Library

Hiberno-Saxon Manuscript Illumination The Evangelists are commonly represented by animals

Matthew = Man Mark = Lion Luke = Ox John = Eagle

Evangelist Symbols, Book of Armagh Image source: http://www.uni-due.de/DI/Manuscripts.htm

Hiberno-Saxon Manuscript Illumination The Evangelist symbols are based on the vision of the prophet Ezekiel

Engraved illustration of the "chariot vision" of the Biblical book of Ezekiel, chapter 1, after an earlier illustration by Matthaeus (Matthäus) Merian (1593-1650), for his "Icones Biblicae” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ezekiel's_vision.jpg

Rev 4:5-11 (NRSV) “the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle.” ://catholic-resources.org/Art/Evangelists_Symbols.htm

Hiberno-Saxon Manuscript Illumination The animal symbols resemble the animals of the Barbarian arts

Evangelist Symbol, Book of Kells

Author page introducing the Gospel of Luke Lindisfarne Gospels, c. 698-721 British Library

Author page introducing the Gospel of John Lindisfarne Gospels, c. 698-721 British Library

Carpet Page The author page is followed by a carpet page – so called because of its resemblance to a richly patterned carpet

Carpet Page, Lindisfarne Gospels, c. 698-721 Tempera on vellum

Carpet Page The central motif takes the form of a Celtic Cross,


Carpet Page The interlace patterns reflect the influence of migration art traditions


Hiberno-Saxon Manuscript Illumination Celtic Knots: intricate patterns that recall the mathematical complexity of Islamic geometric patterns


“The cross-carpet page at the beginning of St Matthew's Gospel is probably the best known decorated page in the manuscript . . . On the opposite page the Gospel opens with the Latin words: 'Liber generationis iesu christi', The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, presented in elaborate initials and display capitals.” British Library

Calligraphy was an important art form in both Islamic and Christian traditions

Lindisfarne Gospels, Gospel of St Matthew the Evangelist, initial page, c. 698-721 Tempera on vellum Image source: http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/sacredtexts/lindisfarne.html

Hiberno-Saxon Manuscript Illumination

Lindisfarne Gospels, Gospel of St Matthew the Evangelist, initial page, c. 698-721 Tempera on vellum Image source: http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/sacredtexts/lindisfarne.html

“So when the Word was shown to men through the lawgiver and the prophets, it was not shown them without suitable vesture. There it is covered by the veil of flesh, here of the letter. The letter appears as flesh; but the spiritual sense within is known as divinity... Blessed are the eyes which see divine spirit through the letter's veil.” Claudius of Turin, 9thc Bishop

The act of copying and reading a Bible or Qur’an was a form of religious devotion -- since the text represents the “word of god”

Illuminated Manuscript Koran, Illuminated incipit page with headpiece inscribed with the chapter heading for Sūrat Maryam, Walters Art Museum Ms. 568, fol. 1b Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39699193@N03/3834992550/

St Matthew's Gospel includes a second major initial page, marking the beginning of the Christmas story

The first three lines contain the words: 'Christi autem generatio sic erat', Now the birth of Jesus Christ was of this kind.

Lindisfarne Gospels, Gospel of St Matthew the Evangelist, Second initial page, c. 698-721 Tempera on vellum Image source: http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/lindisfarne/accessible/pages11and12.html#content

Book of Kells One of the most famous examples of Hiberno Saxon manuscript illumination is the Book of Kells

Facsimile reproduction of the Book of Kells Image source: http://www.library.arizona.edu/exhibits/illuman/pre9_07.html

Book of Kells The book opens with a page representing all four of the Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

Book of Kells, late 8th or early 9th century Trinity College Library, Dublin

Hiberno-Saxon Manuscript Illumination Matthew is represented as a man or an angel


Hiberno-Saxon Manuscript Illumination Mark is represented by a lion


Hiberno-Saxon Manuscript Illumination Luke is represented by an ox


Hiberno-Saxon Manuscript Illumination And John is represented by an eagle


Author Page A separate author page introduces the Gospels of Matthew in the Book of Kells

Page introducing the Gospel of Matthew, Book of Kells http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth212/book_of_kells.html

Author Page The incipit page begins with the same words we saw in the Lindisfarne Gospels: 'Liber generationis iesu christi’

Incipit Page, Gospel of Matthew, Book of Kells http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth212/book_of_kells.html

Book of Kells Like the Linidsfarne Gospels, there is a second incipit page, with the text: "XPI autem generatio....” Now the generation of Christ was in this wise”

Chi-rho-iota page, from the Book of Kells, 8th-9th c., Trinity College Library, London

Book of Kells The chi-rho-iota (XPI) representing the first three letters of the word “Christos” fills the entire page


Book of Kells Viewed closely, the page is filled with zoomorphic imagery and intricate interlace patterns


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Early Medieval Art 2012